


Don't Break My Heart, Mickey

by Mochas N Mayhem (KoohiiCafe)



Series: Four Time Travelers She Loved, and One Time She Time Traveled [5]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-02
Updated: 2012-09-02
Packaged: 2017-11-13 10:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/502410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoohiiCafe/pseuds/Mochas%20N%20Mayhem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was with Torchwood again, but it wasn't <i>her</i> Torchwood, and that was more than just the fact that there was no Captain Jack leading this Torchwood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Break My Heart, Mickey

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Don't Break My Heart, Mickey  
>  **Author:** Koohii Cafe  
>  **Rating:** General Audiences  
>  **Crossover:** BtVS/Doctor Who  
>  **Disclaimer:** Since I am a poor chickadee with no wealth to speak of, I think it's safe to say that neither BtVS nor Doctor Who are mine. ^^;  
>  **Written for:** [Pick From a Hat Challenge](http://www.tthfanfic.org/Challenge-309/Pick+From+a+Hat.htm%20)  
>  **Summary:** _She was with Torchwood again, but it wasn't_ her _Torchwood, and that was more than just the fact that there was no Captain Jack leading this Torchwood._  
>  **Author's Note:** The fourth pick from a 'Pick From A Hat' challenge, and the fourth of my '[Four Time Travelers She Loved, and One Time She Time Traveled](http://archiveofourown.org/series/25271)' series.

Torchwood... she was with Torchwood again, but it wasn't _her_ Torchwood, and that was more than just the fact that there was no Captain Jack leading this Torchwood. There was no Captain Jack leading this Torchwood because this wasn't even her _universe_ , and apparently in this universe, Jack never made it to Cardiff, and wasn't that a kicker. She was stuck in another universe, thanks to some mishap with a spell and a portal gone wrong, and she was working with a Jack-less Torchwood because they were the only ones who were willing to help out a universal orphan. And oh yeah, she was several years backward in time too, because being trapped in another universe wasn't bad enough, she had to relive a couple years that had _not_ been good years for fashion as well. Well- at least she had Torchwood, whether it was her Torchwood or not.

"Hey, you feelin' alright?" Rose Tyler, Torchwood extraordinaire and daughter of this Torchwood's leader, Pete Tyler, gave her a concerned look from across the table, and Buffy sighed a little before she poked at the food on her plate.

"Five by five, Rose," she answered, a ghost of a smile quirking over her lips. The other blonde blinked in confusion, and the slayer wished Faith was here to understand. Of course, Faith existed in this universe, Buffy knew because she'd looked up all of her friends, but- this Faith wasn't _her_ Faith. None of her friends were the same here, because unlike her home universe, there was no supernatural here. No vampires and demons and, of course, no slayers. This Faith was a small time thief in Boston, currently serving time for attempted bank robbery, and this Faith wouldn't understand the same way _her_ Faith would. But, while Rose didn't understand the phrase, Rose _did_ understand the tone.

"I have no idea what you just said," Rose answered with a light laugh, and Buffy cracked a bit of a real smile as her friend continued on, "but I know what you're goin' through. 'M always here to talk, if you want to." Rose was a universal orphan too, as was her mom, Jackie Tyler, and her friend, Mickey Smith. Buffy'd even found out that, in an even crazier than usual twist of fate, they were from the _same_ universe; Rose had known someone, two someones actually, that Buffy had known very well.

"Do you miss them?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, words she'd very carefully avoided, because the same day she'd found out that Buffy and Rose knew some of the same people, she'd found out that Rose had been heartbroken to be separated from one of them. Rose started at the question, but then turned a very quiet look to the older blonde, and cupped her hands around her mug of tea.

"Sometimes I don't know what to do without him." She was staring down at her drink now, seemingly engrossed in the steam it let off, and Buffy wished she hadn't asked. "The Doctor, I mean. I- I hadn't seen Jack since-" She paused, swallowing down a lump in her throat. That was another discovery Buffy had found, when she and Rose had talked about her past in their universe; Rose had known a much younger Jack than Buffy had, and she'd thought him dead. "But then I remember that I'm not some helpless damsel, 'n I never have been, ever since the day I met the Doctor. That's why I work so hard here. We're going to find a way back, and make things right again." A real smile on Rose's face now, as she looked back up to meet her friend's gaze. "What about you?"

"It's- complicated," came the slow answer, and the other woman laughed.

"When isn't it, with him?"

"With _both_ of them," Buffy amended, and her smile widened a bit more. "Jack and I were good. We didn't see each other a lot after I left Torchwood, mostly just when we had an alien problem, or Torchwood had a demon problem, but we were okay with that. And the Doctor..." She paused, as if to think of the right words. "It wasn't the same for me. You were with him pretty much constantly, but I only ever saw him when he popped in for some new apocalypse."

"What was it like- with Captain Jack? I mean, did you and he-"

"We did." Rose's eyes lit up and she leaned forward, as if eager to hear, and Buffy laughed. "Oh god, Rose, you do _not_ want to know the things that man can do with his tongue. And- pretty much every other body part."

"I think I'll pass, yeah." They both laughed anyway, a shared understanding. "He did like to brag. How'd you stand it? And the flirting?"

"If you can't stand Jack flirting, then you do _not_ need to be in a relationship with him," she answered easily, her eyes sparkling as the corners of her lips quirked up. "And I knew that going in. I mean, we were never _together_ together; I was rebound girl when we met, and in the middle of this big huge complicated part of my life, and he wasn't looking for that." That she'd loved him went unsaid, as it always had. "It's funny; he'd mentioned the Doctor before, but he never said much, and I never realized who he meant until I _met_ the Doctor... and the Doctor hadn't met Jack yet."

"Yeah. Time travel's weird like that- the Doctor called it 'wibbly-wobbly.' A technical term, you know."

"Sounds like him," Buffy snorted, smirking. "What about you and Jack? You never-"

"Oh god, no," Rose denied quickly, eyes wide. "That's not to say I wasn't tempted, but- there was someone else." Her tone was sad, then, and somewhat wistful. Mourning something Buffy was fairly certain she'd never had the chance to actually have. "And then he'd died, and he was gone. Although, I guess now I know he didn't actually die... I don't know why the Doctor didn't tell me..." Confusion then, brows furrowing, and Buffy decided to move the conversation along, because while she didn't know either, this wasn't the time for sad thoughts.

"What about you and Mickey?"

"Before I met the Doctor, yeah." Okay, or maybe that _hadn't_ been the best question... "We were mates, thick as thieves, and he was always there for me. But when I started travelin', we grew apart, and he decided to stay here the first time we came. Found a place he fit in, 'n a cause to fight for." Rose paused, but there wasn't sadness on her face now. Rather, she looked at peace with it, and actually... a little mischievous. "But I've seen the way he looks at you, and 'm pretty sure I've seen you lookin' back."

" _What?_ " Buffy's eyes widened, because she could just _see_ the thought forming in the other blonde's head, and she shook her own head quickly. "No, just- _no_. You are _not_ setting me up with your ex, no way."

"Why not?" Rose asked cheerfully, tongue curling up around her teeth to one side.

"Because he's your _ex boyfriend_ , Rose, that's weird. You- you can't just set people up with your ex!"

"And? I know that look Mickey gets on his face when he's interested in someone- and he's interested in _you_. And you can't tell me you're not interested in _him_ , can you?"

"But-"

"I told you, Buffy, we grew apart; haven't been together for years- even longer for him, since time moves funny here. I'd rather see him happy with someone else."

"You _do_ know that this breaks every girl code _ever_ , right?" One eyebrow arched at her friend, who grinned wider and laughed.

"Rule breaker, me. That mean you'll say yes if he asks?"

"I hope I don't regret this... but yes."

A week later, Mickey asked her on a date, and she said yes. He was in this universe by his own choice, not trapped like she was, but he understood her better than anyone else here could; he'd known some of the same people, been through some of the same experiences, and it'd shaped him into someone strong and formidable, a fighter ready to defend what he called his own. That first date was fantastic, and lead into a second, and then a third and more, and Buffy decided she could be happy in this universe.

Then one night, as she lay curled in Mickey's arms, the world disappeared in a crackle of oh so familiar magic.

She'd been 'rescued.'


End file.
